THE STUDENTS' HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI FROM ITS EARLIEST DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS TO THE END OF THE YEAR 1886. BY MARY J. DUVAL. . . ADAPTED FOR GENERAL READING AND THE USE OF SCHOOLS.

Presumed first edition (no direct statement provided). xii, 239 pages. Hardcover: H 19.25cm x L 13cm. Original green cloth well mottled; light wear at spine ends; flaking losses to spine's gilt stamping but title/author still legible; 10.5cm tear to surface cloth ascending front heel of front joint; slender band of frayed cloth loss at front board's bottom edge; board corners worn. Edges toned. Floral patterned endpapers. Some foxing and stains mostly on early and late leaves but occasional pencil marks and notes amongst text. Text block binding still reasonably firm. A fair copy but fairly typical condition for a 19th century school textbook, which, after some very cursory research, appears to be the first school primer focused specifically on Mississippi history and civics. Duval offers a broad review of Mississippi history from Hernando de Soto through the colonial and territorial eras and inclusive to the Civil War and Reconstruction. But, like its early twentieth century textbook counterparts by Pearl Vivian Guyton, Willa Bolton, and Franklin Riley, Duval's roseate and simplistic treatment of Mississippi history is quite flawed even upon granting leeway for the youth and intellectual immaturity of the target audience. Narrow breadth, selective exclusion of fact, biased presentation, and flawed analysis are exemplified by Duval's superficial review of slavery and disdain directed towards Native Americans among many other faults. The text also reflects an ardent pro-South perspective with no subtly in an "us" versus "them" attitude. Born in Rome, Georgia in 1850, Mary Duval moved to Sardis, Mississippi in 1861 and started a career as a schoolteacher in the 1870s which inspired her desire to author a suitable textbook regarding state history and government. This book is her first effort with a much revised and extended revision published in 1892 (also by Louisville's Courier-Journal Job Printing Company) under the title "History of Mississippi and Civil Government. Compiled and Arranged For the Use of the Public Schools of Mississippi. By Mary V. Duval . . . With an Appendix Containing the Constitution of Mississippi, Adopted November 1, 1890." Duval also penned a play titled "The Queen of the South: A Drama" first published in 1899 in Pulaski, Tennessee with a second edition issued in 1901 in Grenada, Mississippi. Description copyright David Hallinan, Bookseller.…